Man killed in hail of bullets

STOCKTON - One man was killed and two others wounded when gunfire erupted in a north Stockton neighborhood late Friday, authorities said.

Jason Anderson

STOCKTON - One man was killed and two others wounded when gunfire erupted in a north Stockton neighborhood late Friday, authorities said.

Neighbors were startled by the sustained sound of automatic gunfire about 11:50 p.m. in the 1900 block of Dijon Street near Knickerbocker Drive, just north of East Hammer Lane. One person who spoke on condition of anonymity estimated that more than 50 shots were fired.

"I thought it was fireworks in the middle of the night, but I got spooked" the person said. "I grabbed my kid and threw him in my bed and then grabbed my bat, and after all that they were still spraying (bullets)."

When officers arrived, they found three victims, all 29-year-old men, suffering from gunshot wounds, authorities said.

All three victims were taken to hospitals, police said. One of the victims, a Cambodian man, died as a result of his injuries, said Officer Joe Silva, a spokesman for the Stockton Police Department. The other two victims were expected to survive, Silva said.

No one answered the door Saturday at the home where the shooting occurred, but evidence of the attack was clear. There were bullet holes in exterior walls and windows and pools of blood in the front yard, which was littered with broken glass, beer caps and cigarette butts.

The neighbor who spoke on condition of anonymity said the street used to be relatively peaceful, but things changed when new tenants moved into the duplex where the shooting occurred. The neighbor said eight or nine men frequently hang out in front of the home, and that they've argued with residents and people who pass by in cars.

"They kind of took over," the neighbor said. "People won't even turn this way if they don't allow it."